Posting Workout Questions/Training Cycles

Much like the AAS forum, when asking for training cycle critiques - don't forget to post some personal stats. Age, bodyweight/fat and especially your training experience all play significant roles in getting good responses.

Age, Bodyweight/fat
There are many differences between an 18 year old athlete and one that is 30 years their senior. Recovery ability, connective tissue strength and endogenous androgen levels can all be very different. Your weight and bodyfat helps others to determine what musculature you already have.

Training Experience
The training required by someone in an advanced stage is much different than a beginner just getting the mind-muscle connection. As we are able to handle larger loads we tax our systems much more - 315lbs for 10 puts much more stress on your system than when you could only do 135lbs for 10... your muscle grow but your organs, internal filtering processes and CNS do not (other than a motivational tollerance that is developed to cope with things like lactic acid burn). In the beggining, working the entire body a few times per week is usually the best answer - but the loads get heavier and the training more intense, more recovery days are needed per muscle group.

Your training experience also helps people to know what kind of knowledge you are bringing to the forum. If you have been a consistent for several years... than explaining how to preform a dumbell flye would be redundant...

Existing/Previous Injuries
Existing or previous injuries are very important training variables to consider when designing a training cycle.

Ergogenic Aids
Sometimes it helps to add to your post what supplements you may be taking to assist with training and recovery. If you are on anabolic -androgenicsteriods - this would deffinitly be a factor due to increased protein synthesis and cross over binding to gluco-corticoid receptors (cortisol blocking).

Basically - the more info you give... the easier it is for others to chime in with good feedback... asking, "Does this split look good?" is way too generic and not easy to answer...

help on cycle

I sarting a new cycle and was thinking of taking 5mg dbol 250tab or 50mg anadrol 50tabs and stacking it with sustanon 250 10ml and test suspension 8ml and finishing it off with Winstrol 50mg 20ml. WAnted to know what you thout of this stack and what you would advise to stack to gain weight abd strength but still stsy sum what lean and still be able to pass a drug test 3 months after cycling off, cuz intially I was goign to stack deca and sust insted od sust ans suspension but I get drug tested at school for football.

How do you develop fast twitch muscle fiber and is there anything to take to specifically help the development?

Fast-twitch are your more explosive, less oxidative fibers. Everyone has a different ratio and each muscle group further changes this (another reason to not only vary your exercises but also your rep ranges). For instance, your hamstrings are predominatly fast-twitch while the calves are mostly slow-twitch (more endurance orientated).

The famous Canadian strength coach, Charles Poliquin has written a few times about how this should be applied to how you work a muscle group. He has written that hamstrings should usually be worked under 10 reps and calves need at least 40 seconds of continuous tension - so neither blow off the training session.

What can you take? Well... working in a low rep range would require quick explosive power... so however you can mentally harness that enthusiasm. Creatine has long been a supplement to help increase the muscles ATP capacity to be able to be more forceful in low rep resistance training and sprinting.

Hey I got some work out ?'s. I'm 20 and weight about 145 and have a skinny build. I wanna be able to gain some muscle to get a stong cut look. I'm gonna do my best to gain the weight but what would be a good work out routine to get myself into?

I see a lot of training critique threads that don't give the whole story...

Think about it: why do you want the critique? Are you making any type of progress with what you are doing? Are you gaining with heavier loads, more reps or simply finishing faster (a greater power output capacity)? Why do you ask for a critique? Are you regressing or getting overtrained - what makes you question what you are currently doing?

Different people need different training splits... finding one that works best for you a challenge that you have to keep adjusting through out your bodybuilding endeavors... going stale and not making adjustments is the very deffinition of insanity. Add goal-orientated training (to maximize fat loss, muscle or mass gain) to the mix and it all gets even more complicated.

i have just started my first ever cycle of 30mg dbol and 400mg test cyp
i`m into the dbol cycle by 2 weeks but just had my first test inj yesterday(delivery of test a prob, i know i should of waited)
Anyway my question is will being on gear help bring a lagging body part in line (legs)
i have always trained them harder and longer and they have always been a problem
I have trained on and off for 20 years
over the years they have got better but only because i ease up on chest and arms particularly.
I am by nature i very thin person and my ankles are the same size as my wrist
what do you think

Need info on how much water to consume during work out. I am thristy as hell latetley but not as much in the gym. I see a lot of guys caring gallon jugs while I sip at it so i was curious. THanks for any input!

General Info

Ok, Hi all, hi Warrior, I've been getting back into the gym lately which has been difficult b/c I have been inconsistent in both diet and exercise, plus I've reached a plateau..

Let me begin by saying that I am 38 years old, weigh about 210, 6'3" tall. I am a recovering addict/alcoholic/etc. Food was my first drug of choice back when I was 11 years old. I was a really skinny kid.....until then that is. I ate, and ate, and ate, mostly junk. I became fat quickly and up until I was 31 I was overweight and did alot of drinking and drugging. My average weight from 23 til 31 was about 275, and, I once wieghed 310.

My last time in the state pen. in '98 I decided to get into shape. At this time I wieghed my most 310. After 9 months of walking, jogging, handball, etc. I got down to 247......pretty amazing!

I got out in early 2001 and went back to doping but still put on weight; back to 265. I got into rehab and since I had no major responsibilities at the time, I went to the gym 7 days a week. I had no clue as to what I was doing. I probably did alot of damage. I mean, can you imagine a guy at 267 jogging on the treadmill.....yeah, my knees, shins, EVERYTHING started hurting.

Just after about 10 months I actually got down to 188lbs. I had trainers at the gym telling me that my losing weight that fast was dangerous. People were telling me that I was too skinny, which actually after being fat my whole life made me feel good!

I was on a starvation diet at this time (3 small meals a day and one snack). You gotta remember I grew up in the 80's when starvation diets were the thing. I wanted to put on some muscle and I finally got a trainer who told me that I had to eat 5 to 7 times a day.

I learned a little about exercise and quite a bit about nutrition in the past 7 years, but, man have I been struggling. Remember I was an active dope fiend for 17 years of my life, was overweight. And, now I found out some years ago that I have a herniated L5 which is also degenerating (man this ****er hurts EVERY GODDAMNED DAY!)

I also have hepatitis C and along with my back pain and some strange phenomenon with my midsection I find it quite hard to stay motivated. This midsection thing is a long story, but, in short, it has been theorized that because I had been so overweight for so long that my stomach muscle lining had been stretched out and though I am alot skinnier, the lining is still weak. What happened is that about 3 years ago I was doing stomach/core routines and all of a sudden my stomach portruded and felt like someone took a red hot Rambo knife and gutted my ass.........worst pain EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope, its not a hernia because you cant feel it. Perhaps because of the weak lining that I have a potential for a hernia but, hell I don't have insurance so I don't know.

ANYWAYS I am here today to just get some ideas on a workout I can do to build mass. I will want to cut later, but for now I would like all the info I can get on adding muscle mass while keeping fat gains low. This would include: nutrition, supplements, workout routines (be specific I need stuff spelled out!), etc.

REMEMBER, I am 38 years old, herniated/degenerative L5, joints hurt due to Hepatitis C. I wiegh 210 and I am almost 6'3".

Ok, Hi all, hi Warrior, I've been getting back into the gym lately which has been difficult b/c I have been inconsistent in both diet and exercise, plus I've reached a plateau..

Let me begin by saying that I am 38 years old, weigh about 210, 6'3" tall. I am a recovering addict/alcoholic/etc. Food was my first drug of choice back when I was 11 years old. I was a really skinny kid.....until then that is. I ate, and ate, and ate, mostly junk. I became fat quickly and up until I was 31 I was overweight and did alot of drinking and drugging. My average weight from 23 til 31 was about 275, and, I once wieghed 310.

My last time in the state pen. in '98 I decided to get into shape. At this time I wieghed my most 310. After 9 months of walking, jogging, handball, etc. I got down to 247......pretty amazing!

I got out in early 2001 and went back to doping but still put on weight; back to 265. I got into rehab and since I had no major responsibilities at the time, I went to the gym 7 days a week. I had no clue as to what I was doing. I probably did alot of damage. I mean, can you imagine a guy at 267 jogging on the treadmill.....yeah, my knees, shins, EVERYTHING started hurting.

Just after about 10 months I actually got down to 188lbs. I had trainers at the gym telling me that my losing weight that fast was dangerous. People were telling me that I was too skinny, which actually after being fat my whole life made me feel good!

I was on a starvation diet at this time (3 small meals a day and one snack). You gotta remember I grew up in the 80's when starvation diets were the thing. I wanted to put on some muscle and I finally got a trainer who told me that I had to eat 5 to 7 times a day.

I learned a little about exercise and quite a bit about nutrition in the past 7 years, but, man have I been struggling. Remember I was an active dope fiend for 17 years of my life, was overweight. And, now I found out some years ago that I have a herniated L5 which is also degenerating (man this ****er hurts EVERY GODDAMNED DAY!)

I also have hepatitis C and along with my back pain and some strange phenomenon with my midsection I find it quite hard to stay motivated. This midsection thing is a long story, but, in short, it has been theorized that because I had been so overweight for so long that my stomach muscle lining had been stretched out and though I am alot skinnier, the lining is still weak. What happened is that about 3 years ago I was doing stomach/core routines and all of a sudden my stomach portruded and felt like someone took a red hot Rambo knife and gutted my ass.........worst pain EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope, its not a hernia because you cant feel it. Perhaps because of the weak lining that I have a potential for a hernia but, hell I don't have insurance so I don't know.

ANYWAYS I am here today to just get some ideas on a workout I can do to build mass. I will want to cut later, but for now I would like all the info I can get on adding muscle mass while keeping fat gains low. This would include: nutrition, supplements, workout routines (be specific I need stuff spelled out!), etc.

REMEMBER, I am 38 years old, herniated/degenerative L5, joints hurt due to Hepatitis C. I wiegh 210 and I am almost 6'3".

Thanks for everyone's time and efforts!
Shawn

I am asking for a critique because I have been on a plateau for like close to 2 years and I am tired of working out without getting the results I want....

Now, I started working out seriously in April of 2008. When I started, I weighed 178lbs, now 205lbs. Now by seriously, I mean going to the gym regularly. Back in 2008 I crammed my workouts into a FOUR bodyparts a day into two a days. Two parts in the morning, two in the evening, however that was overkill IMO, so I dropped it to two bodyparts a day as followed (As of Jan 2011):

Day 1: 10Mins Pre Cardio (Back/Chest) 10Mins Post Cardio

Day 2: 10Mins Pre Cardio (Bis/Tri) 10Mins Post Cardio

Day 3: Rest/Cardio

Day 4: 10 Pre (Legs/Forearms) 10 Post

Day 5: 10 Pre (Shoulders/Abs) 10 Post

Day 6: Rest/Cardio

Now as you can see with this schedule, the days always rotate. So Day 1 may start on say a Monday here, but when I have to day do Back/Chest again, it'll be Sunday the next time and so on and so on. Now the Rest/Cardio days mean, if I'm not toooooooooo lazy I'll go to the gym and do cardio for a full hour. If I am lazy, then it becomes a full fledged rest day.

Anywho, that's my workout routine as of Jan 2011. It seems to be working for me a lot better than before. Because before I never really gave 48 good hours before I hit the same body part again. I figure with this schedule, there's roughly 120 hours in between each respective body part. Anywho. any advice...
Thanks!!

Much like the AAS forum, when asking for training cycle critiques - don't forget to post some personal stats. Age, bodyweight/fat and especially your training experience all play significant roles in getting good responses.

Age, Bodyweight/fat
There are many differences between an 18 year old athlete and one that is 30 years their senior. Recovery ability, connective tissue strength and endogenous androgen levels can all be very different. Your weight and bodyfat helps others to determine what musculature you already have.

Training Experience
The training required by someone in an advanced stage is much different than a beginner just getting the mind-muscle connection. As we are able to handle larger loads we tax our systems much more - 315lbs for 10 puts much more stress on your system than when you could only do 135lbs for 10... your muscle grow but your organs, internal filtering processes and CNS do not (other than a motivational tollerance that is developed to cope with things like lactic acid burn). In the beggining, working the entire body a few times per week is usually the best answer - but the loads get heavier and the training more intense, more recovery days are needed per muscle group.

Your training experience also helps people to know what kind of knowledge you are bringing to the forum. If you have been a consistent for several years... than explaining how to preform a dumbell flye would be redundant...

Existing/Previous Injuries
Existing or previous injuries are very important training variables to consider when designing a training cycle.

Ergogenic Aids
Sometimes it helps to add to your post what supplements you may be taking to assist with training and recovery. If you are on anabolic -androgenicsteriods - this would deffinitly be a factor due to increased protein synthesis and cross over binding to gluco-corticoid receptors (cortisol blocking).

Basically - the more info you give... the easier it is for others to chime in with good feedback... asking, "Does this split look good?" is way too generic and not easy to answer...

Whats up everyone. I am fairly new to this forum... i have been dieting and exercising (ie. weights/running) religously since the first of the year. I started at 212lbs and have dropped my weight to 190-192 as of today. My question is...any thoughts that could help me shredd that belly fat quicker? I am running 3 miles 4 times a week and working abs as well. Thanks guys.

I have been working out for about a year now. First did a lot of cardio and let carbs out of my diet. Lost 12 kgs/ 26 pounds. Everyone said that I don't look good and need to bulk up. Started to do that a few months back and back to my previous weight of 187 pounds. However, Don't seem to like what I see in the mirror. I do have some mass on my arms and chest but still don't like the overall picture. Whatever, I have been doing I do it through my own reading and wits. This is what I have been doing for the last couple of weeks:

I am thinking of incorporating some AM Cardio 15-20 mins (Jogging) with this because of my belly pooch. Can you guys tell me if it is alright or do I need to do something else. My demographics
Weight - 187 lbs
Height - 5 feet 10 inches
Waist - 34.5 inches

Good post very informative. Thank you for being knowledgeable and answering everyone’s questions. Its guys like you that have made me feel at home here.

Slovessheela. Hey what’s up? Hope this helps. I’m ISSA certified and have been a PT for 6 yrs. One of the main components of packing on additional muscle mass involves increasing your caloric intake. However, muscle definition often decreases and total body weight increases. Cardio training helps to improve your overall health, and increases stamina and energy during your resistance training routine, it allows you to consume more muscle building calories (from protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats) while not putting on excess fat. You should engage in some type of heart-healthy cardio training at least three days a week for about 30+ minutes a day minimum. I suggest doing cardio that you consider fun. This way you’re more likely to stick to it.